A great number of insecticidal toxicants are known today. However, because of increased concern about the overall safety of some of the known ectoparasitic toxicants, the search for new, safe and effective materials has intensified recently.
Many species of insects encase their ova in protective sheaths which are impregnable to most toxicants. The developmental period of the egg is often relatively long in comparison to the life cycle of the adult forms. In such cases, an agent effective only against the adults must persist for the lifetime of the developing ovum or must be reapplied as successive hatchings occur.
Few, if any, of the ectoparasitic toxicants in commercial use contribute to produce performance, but must be supported by extraneous components for emulsifying, foaming or cleansing purposes.
It has now been found that alkyl amine oxides are effective ectoparasiticidal and/or ovicidal toxicants. These compounds are known materials and have heretofore been employed in various cleansing and degerming compositions for their emulsifying properties. Some of the myriad compositions are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,296,145, 3,484,523, 3,929,990 and 3,943,234. One commercial shampoo formulation contains 1% N-stearyl-N,N-dimethylamine oxide, and another commercial shampoo contains 2% N-myristyl-N,N-dimethylamine oxide. U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,895 discloses a shampoo containing 4-18 parts sodium lauryl sulfate, 0.1-4 parts zinc pyridinethione and 0.2-12 parts N-stearyl-N,N-dimethyl amine oxide.
It is the object of this invention to provide new, safe and effective toxicants for ectoparasites and their ova. It is the further object of this invention to provide insect toxicants which have intrinsic emulsifying, foaming and cleansing properties. They may be used alone as primary active ingredients, or in combination with other toxicants in which the alkyl amine oxides contribute insecticidal and/or ovicidal power while providing valuable secondary properties to the compositions. This and other objects of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description.